When Andy Murray signed up to play alongside Laura Robson for Britain in the Hopman Cup here this week, he must have thought he would just play his three round-robin group matches and then head to Melbourne to continue his preparations for the Australian Open, the year's first grand-slam event, which begins a week on Monday.

But after a second consecutive victory today, this time a 2-1 win over the Germany team of Philipp Kohlschreiber and Sabine Lisicki, Murray may just have to put in a bit more overtime as he and Robson face Russia on Friday knowing victory would put them through to Saturday's final.

Not only is the Scot facing an extra workload, he is also having to get used to playing second fiddle to his partner. As she was born in Melbourne and with her family in nearby Albany, the locals have been spending much of their time claiming Robson as their own – "she gets her ability from the Australian in her," one observer said – but though her English accent gives away her loyalties, the crowd have warmed to both her playing style and her unassuming, charming nature in her on-court interviews. "I think that's because most of the crowd are somehow related to me," she said."

The friendly response to Robson can partly be explained by the fact that the family has close links with Western Australia, with the Austalian Rules Football club, Perth, naming their grandstand after her great-grandfather Pat Fogerty, who was the long time president of the club, while her uncle Larry Dwyer was part of the Premiership-winning South Fremantle of the 1970s.

Such is the affinity that Robson is held in by the locals that today she will test out the tennis skills of two players from the Perth-based team Fremantle, nicknamed the Dockers, who will award her membership as an International Patron of the club. Not that she thinks of Perth as a second home, though. "I've got my relatives here but I've been staying in the hotel and everything so I'm not really with my uncle [who lives nearby] or anything like that," Robson said. "We did spend Christmas with my uncle but London is home."

Murray continued his impressive start to the year with a 6-4, 6-1 demolition of Kohlschreiber, a player ranked No27, to make it two singles wins out of two. But unlike in their opening 2-1 win over Kazakhstan when the Scot did almost everything on his own in the mixed doubles, this time he was given outstanding support from the 15-year-old Robson, who showed just why she is expected to make quick strides when she joins the senior tour this season.

In her first match against Yaroslava Shvedova Robson had faded badly after a bright start. Against Sabine Lisicki, a girl ranked No22 and surely destined for the top 10, she lifted her game to suit the occasion and frightened the life out of the German before going down 7-6, 6-3. "She is only 15 and I think she's playing pretty well for that age," Lisicki said. "It's never easy to make the transition from the juniors but I think we'll see her up there soon."

Martijn Bok, the Dutchman who has coached Robson for two and a half years, watched proudly behind the court, delighted with the improvement, though he admitted he had not expected Robson to push Lisicki so close. "I knew that she can play with her, I've seen that before, but it's a very good performance," he said. "It's a very good match for her and she should be proud of herself."

Robson turns 16 in the first week of the Australian Open and because of her age she is limited to 12 tournaments in 2010, including only three wildcards, so her chances of playing against the top players – like the world No5 Elena Dementieva whom she will meet on Friday – are few and far between until she climbs the rankings. "It's a shame because you can see she can play nicely against these girls," Bok said.

The confidence of that performance was translated in emphatic style to the deciding mixed doubles when Robson more than held her own as she and Murray romped to a 6-3, 6-2 triumph. The pair have built up a rapport, bantering in front of the press and laughing and smiling their way through their matches. If Robson succeeds on the senior circuit then she is going to become pretty hot property when it comes to mixed doubles, which perhaps explains why she is keeping her options open. "I asked her if she wanted to play in the Olympics yesterday for 2012 and she said no," Murray said. "That's the last time I'll ask her to play mixed." When asked whether she thought she could get a better offer, she said, "No, probably not", and promised to think about it. At 33-1 with William Hill to win gold in London in 2012, they might be well worth a bet.